


Cry of the Wolf

by SeaSpectre160



Category: Digimon Frontier
Genre: Gen, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-20
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2018-02-13 08:29:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2143968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaSpectre160/pseuds/SeaSpectre160
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the gang returns from the Digital World, everything should be fine, right? Wrong! After all, Kōsei kept Kōichi's existence a secret, and now it's blown. How will that affect things between the father and his sons?</p><p>
  <img/>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Growing Up in Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have worked really hard on this story, and I hope you enjoy it. This story will be completed on the 6th of March. 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon. This includes the dialogue in the last three scenes of this chapter. The first two of those are from Episode 27, and the last one is from Episode 1. 
> 
> EDIT JUN 11, 2015: Names have been changed to their Japanese versions, and the original scenes have been written to match English Sub translations instead of the dub.

A man and woman stood outside a suburban house, a pile of luggage sitting on the sidewalk. Each of them held an infant in their arms. A yellow cab pulled up in front of them. At the woman's request, the driver began picking up her suitcases and tossing them into the trunk and backseat. The woman walked over to her now ex-husband – or more specifically, the child he was holding.

"Goodbye, Kōji," she whispered tearfully, kissing him on the forehead, "Mama's always going to miss you." She gave the man a cold, hurt glare before getting into the cab. As the taxi drove away, both babies started to cry.

* * *

I sat alone at my table, idly colouring the picture in front of me. Several other kids were doing the same, but they avoided me. Nobody wanted to sit with the new kid. Of course, I would get used to it some years later.

It was my first day of school here. I'd started at a different school at the beginning of the year, but then Papa had told me we were going to live in a new house. At first I thought he meant we would be living with my friend Mikoto. But instead, I learned that the new house was in another city, and I couldn't go to school with any of my friends. Papa told me I could make new friends; but so far, I wasn’t. My fellow kindergarteners were mean to me. One of them threw a wooden building block at my head!

I continued rubbing the blue crayon onto the paper. The teacher said it was Mother's Day soon, so we were colouring a picture of a mama and child. Lots of other kids were talking about their mommies while they coloured.

I wished I had a mama. Or a brother or sister. I loved Papa, but it was still very lonely, just the two of us.

"My Mama bakes cookies when I help her do chores and stuff."

I did my best to help Papa wash the dishes, but all I ever got was a thank-you.

"My Mama taught me how to paint."

Papa never had time to do that, and besides, I didn't really like painting, anyway.

"My Mama reads me and my Onii-chan a bedtime story every night."

I wondered what it was like to hear a story right before bed.

"Do you have a yellow crayon?" I looked up. A boy with brown hair and green eyes stood by my table. I nodded and dug through my brand-new blue pencil case, eventually producing a fat yellow crayon. "Thank you." The boy smiled. "I'm Kai," he said, "Do you wanna sit with me?" Quietly, I gave him a small smile of my own and nodded.

* * *

"'Bye, Kai." It'd been almost three years since Kai had come over to my table to borrow a yellow crayon. We were now best friends, but I was moving again. Tou-san was getting married in less than a week, and we were relocating to a new house closer to the new Mrs. Minamoto's neighbourhood.

The new Mrs. Minamoto. Who did she think she was? Even though Kaa-san was dead, it didn't mean that Tou-san could marry another woman. Did he even care? Did he even miss her? I didn't need a new mom, and I sure as hell didn't want one.

I tried my best not to cry as I sat in the backseat of Tou-san’s car, watching my best friend, my home, and my life shrink into the distance.

* * *

Another three years and four moves later, I sat alone in my new room, the door tightly shut. My stuff was still in boxes. What was the point of unpacking, anyway? Just give Tou-san and my _step_ mother a few months, and we'd be on the road again. I hadn't even bothered to come downstairs when the new neighbours popped by to say hello. So what if they had a kid my age? I'd stopped trying to make friends long ago. The next move would be a little less painful if I didn't have to leave something – or someone – behind. It barely even bothered me anymore. Friends were okay, but they'd always leave life eventually. I was just better prepared for it than most people. Besides, I liked being alone.

The only thing I'd unpacked, aside from my clothes, was a two-sided picture frame. A photograph of my 'family' – me, Tou-san, and my _step_ mother – stared at me from my bedside table. Frowning, I poked at the top so that it flipped over, showing a different picture. A woman with dark hair and blue eyes – my eyes – smiled at me now. A tiny spark of contentment filled my heart for a second, but it was soon drowned in grief. _'I wish you were here,'_ I thought.

"Kōji!" Tou-san was right outside the door. "I’m coming in." He opened the door, smiling at first, but the contentedness on his face faded as he noticed the picture. "You… again, you’re looking at your late mother’s photo. You have a new mother now, for three years already, so act a little more respectful."

I stared at the floor angrily. Even after three years, Tou-san was still bugging me about it. “I’m a fifth-grader now. I can think for myself.”

Tou-san sighed. “Kōji, do you want her to be your mother?”

My _step_ mother was coming up the stairs as he said it; she dropped the teacup she was carrying with a crash and froze at his words. As angry as I was, I still felt a little guilty for the sadness on her face.

* * *

The bell above the door tinkled as I walked into the florist's. Tou-san obviously wasn't going to stop bugging me unless I got my _step_ mother something for their third anniversary, which was today. I stopped by a glass display case and looked at the rows of various bouquets, unsure of what to get.

"May I help you with something?" A perky young shopkeeper popped up in front of me, making me jump in surprise. "Is it a present?”

"Yes." People that energetic were the ones I found to be a little scary. It was just unnatural to be permanently cheerful.

"Oh! Is it for your mother or someone?"

I nodded.

"That’s great! Just leave it to me!" She bustled over to the counter and began looking through a set of large ribbons. "Is it for your mother’s birthday?"

"Today is… the anniversary of their wedding.”

"Is it the tenth… no, the fifteenth?"

"It’s only been three years."

"I see, three years…" She stopped to take a closer look at me. "Huh? Why has it only been three years?"

I stared at the floor for the second time that day, this time in embarrassment. I hated talking about this.

 _"Minamoto Kōji-kun.”_ What was that? The sound seemed to come from my pocket. As the flower shop girl turned back to her work, I pulled out my cell phone.

_"This is a game which can decide your future."_

O-kay. My phone was talking to me. Weird. "My future?"

The symbol vanished, replaced by two icons: ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. _"Would you like to start? Or not?"_ Would I? It wasn't like this would really make much of a difference, and I felt compelled to check it out. "Kōji?"

Hesitantly, thinking: 'What the hell?' I pressed the OK button, selecting ‘Yes’.

_"Please go to the Shibuya Subway Station at six pm. And then please take the elevator underground."_

I glanced at the clock. It was already 5:15. I had less than an hour.

"Okay!" the salesgirl chirped, holding a beautifully wrapped bouquet of pink and blue blossoms, "I’m done!"

"I’ll come back and get the flowers after!" I turned on my heel and ran out.

* * *

I felt my stomach lurch as the elevator continued to plummet downward. This had to be the craziest situation I'd gotten myself into. First I'd impulsively followed some random instructions from a random text message and travelled two or three districts away from home. Now I was stuck in an elevator that was descending _way_ below the marked floors. I wasn't alone in the elevator; a kid my age with weird goggles worn over his hat had only barely managed to dive in headfirst. He seemed to have received a mysterious message as well, but I didn't talk to him, something the guy was a little put off about. Not that I cared.

"Where the heck are w going?!" he cried as we continued downward.

CRASH! "OOF!"

The elevator had jolted to a stop, the kid had fallen over, and the doors had opened. "Owowow," he complained.

I peeked out. Eight or nine trains were sitting in a semicircle inside a huge room. Dozens of other kids milled about, chatting amongst themselves. _"You are on the final step."_ Great. My phone was talking again. _"Do you want to get on? Or leave?"_ I took a look around and settled for the plain blue-grey locomotive. I ran over to it, ignoring the other kid completely.

When the trains took off seconds later, I watched as the kid barely made it onto the train next to mine. We locked eyes for a moment until our trains zoomed into separate tunnels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, tell me what you think. No flames, though. Nobody likes those. Next chapters are all my work. The aftermath of Kōji introducing Kōichi to his family.


	2. Shouting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Et voici chapitre deux! 
> 
> That's French for: And here's chapter two! 
> 
> Most of this story is in Kōji's POV, but there are like, two scenes that are just narrator's point of view, including the one at the bottom here. 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon. Although it would be pretty sweet if I did.

I glanced over at Kōichi nervously as we turned into the driveway. I still wasn't sure how to go through with this. What was I supposed to say, exactly? “Hey, Tou-san. I just met my long-lost identical twin brother. You know, the one you never told me about.” Somehow, I doubted that would go over well. Kōichi was giving me the exact same look; he was anxious, too.

We made it to the front door far too soon for my liking. "So... same story we gave Kaa-san, right?" I asked. Oh yeah, and how would Tou-san react when he found out I knew the truth about Kaa-san, too?

"If you mean that we just randomly bumped into each other on the street and started talking," Kōichi replied with a small grin, "and nothing about travelling to an alternate universe and fighting evil monsters, then yeah." Right. Leave the Digital World out of the conversation at all costs. Who would believe us, anyway?

"Okay, let's get this over and done with. Just stay by the door and don't make a sound until I tell you to come out."

"And what if they come to the door?"

"I don't know. Hide in the coat closet, or something." I grabbed the knob, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. "I'm home!" I announced. I shut the door as soon as Kōichi quietly slipped past me. Yanking off my sneakers, I walked into the living room, where Tou-san and Satomi-san still sat on the couch, right where I'd left them weeks – no, only a couple hours ago. It was hard to believe we'd spent over a month in the Digital World, and then come home only to discover it had all passed within ten minutes.

"Kōji, where were you?" Satomi-san asked. Hearing the concern in her voice, I mentally kicked myself for ever hating her.

"I just went out for a while. But there's something I want to talk to you guys about." Tou-san and Satomi-san both motioned for me to sit down, so I sank into the armchair across from them. "While I was out, I kind of bumped into this other kid, and… well, he looked exactly like me." They both tensed up right away. Did they already know who I was talking about? "So we started chatting, and, uh…" Okay, this wasn't working. Time for my usual method – just bluntly saying it. "I know about Kaa-san and Kōichi… about Nii0-san now." There. I'd said it. "And I kind of brought Nii-san here." Right away, Kōichi stepped out quietly from his hiding place. Tou-san and Satomi-san both seemed startled by his sudden appearance.

"Um… hello," Satomi-san greeted him. She gave him a small smile, which he gladly returned. So far, this was going all right.

Then I looked over at Tou-san. His expression was stony. Not a good sign. "It's getting late," he stated, "Kōichi, it was nice seeing you again, but you should probably get home.” Nice seeing him again? It hadn't even been thirty seconds! Tou-san hadn't even said hello! "Kōji, we need to talk. Alone."

I sent a suspicious look at him. "Anything you can say to me, you can say in front of _my brother_ ," I spat back. At this point, the mood was pretty intense. Satomi-san and Kōichi glanced back and forth between Tou-san and me, just watching while we engaged in a fierce staring contest.

"Fine. I don't want you two to contact each other ever again."

"What?" I shouted, standing up, my hands curling into tight fists. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was Tou-san really intending to do this to his own sons?

"You heard me. And if you even mention your brother's name under my roof, you'll be grounded until high school."

"Kōsei," Satomi-san began, "I don't think-"

"This is ridiculous!" I interrupted, "What do you have against Kōichi that you won't even let me talk to my own brother?"

"I have my reasons." Tou-san was starting to lose his cool. "And I'm putting my foot down!"

"FINE! THEN I'M OUTTA HERE!" I yelled, tears of anger spilling down my face. I ran to the door, stopping only to put on my shoes, and bolted. Both Kōichi and Satomi-san called out to me, but I didn't listen. I just ran.

* * *

I made it all the way to the city before I finally got tired. I was slightly surprised at the distance I'd travelled. All that time in the Digital World sure had increased my endurance, and being thoroughly pissed beyond words had definitely added an extra mile or two.

How could Tou-san do this? Sure, I'd expected him to be a little upset when I re-introduced him to Kōichi. After all, he'd kept my twin's existence a secret for about ten years. But this was way more than a bit extreme. Did Kaa-san and Tou-san hate each other that much?

I couldn't go home. I needed someplace to crash. Then I remembered that our fellow Legendary Warriors had exchanged addresses and phone numbers with me and Kōichi. I still had the slip of paper in my back pocket. Looking over the addresses, I figured that Takuya's house was the closest. But he was probably still in the middle of his little brother's birthday party. I was pretty pissed, but not enough to crash a kid's birthday.

* * *

 _Ding dong_. Yutaka heaved himself off the couch and trudged over to answer the door. Pulling it open, he saw a tired-looking kid, about eleven or twelve years old, standing before him.

"Uh…" the kid mumbled, "Is this the Himi residence?"

"Yeah," Yutaka replied coolly.

"Is Tomoki home?"

"Um, just a sec. Tomoki! Door!" Tomoki jumped up from his spot in front of the TV and hurried over.

"Who's – oh hey, Kōji-san!" he cried. ‘Kōji-san’ did not smile back. Tomoki's grin immediately faded. "What's wrong?"

"Can I come in?" Kōji mumbled, staring at his shoes.

"Well, my mom and dad aren't home, but if it's okay with Oniichan…" He looked up hopefully at his big brother.

Yutaka sighed. "Fine," he relented. Tomoki smiled and pulled Kōji inside. Kōji sat down on the couch, not taking his eyes off the floor.

"So what are you doing here? Why aren't you at home?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Kōji muttered.

"You never want to talk about anything, even when you really need to. Come on, tell me." Still nothing. "Does Kōichi know you're here?" A shake of the head. "Did you guys get into a fight, or something?"

"I had a fight, but not with Kōichi." He sighed in apparent defeat. "Tou-san was upset for some reason when I brought Kōichi home. He said we weren't allowed to hang out anymore, like we never even met. So then I started yelling, and he started yelling, so I bolted. I don't get why Tou-san doesn't want me to be around my own brother. It's just not right!" By now, he'd clenched his fists and begun shaking in anger and frustration. Yutaka just stood there awkwardly while Tomoki got up beside his new friend (whom Yutaka had never even heard of) and patted him on the shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one's a little short, but I think it was pretty good. Only one chapter left!


	3. Start Over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now here's the final chapter. This is one of the shortest stories I've ever done. The first scene is mostly for comedy, but near the end, it's supposed to point out how much Kōji has changed in the Digital World. 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon. (Wish I did, though)

By the next morning, Kōji still hadn't come home, so Satomi called the police. Eventually, they managed to get a hold of the Kimura’s, and soon Kōichi was at the station with his mother.

"Did your brother call you or contact you in any way after he ran off?" one cop asked him.

"No."

"So you're saying you have no idea where he is?"

"Yes."

"Then where is he?"

"What?"

"You said yes, you know where he is."

"No, I said yes, I'm saying I don't know!" This was going nowhere.

Pretty soon, the police instructed Kōichi to call each one of their friends to see if Kōji had stopped by. An officer tapped into his cell phone frequency so that they could listen in. First on the list was Takuya.

 _"Hey, Kōichi! What's up?"_ the team leader greeted his friend.

Kōichi wasted no time in getting to the point. "Kōji ran away from home. Have you seen him?"

_"What? He ran away? Why would he do that?"_

"Takuya! Yes or no?"

_"Sorry, I haven't. I just don't get why he would run off. I mean, sure, he did that to us about half a dozen times, but I thought all that drama was over."_

"It's a long story, but I've gotta call the others. Just let me know if he stops by."

_"Uh-huh. I will. 'Bye." Click._

Next was Izumi. _"No, I haven't seen him, but the next time I do, I'll pound his head in for running off!" Click_.

Junpei hadn't heard from Kōji either, so that left Tomoki. _"Yeah, he's at my house right now. He showed up last night, and I let him sleep over. Wanna talk to him?"_

"Yes!" Kōichi insisted.

A pause. _"Hello?"_ Kōji sounded annoyed. _"K_ ō _ichi?"_

"Oh, finally! Are you all right?"

_"What do you want?"_

"I'm at the police station. Satomi-san called the cops this morning when you didn't come home."

_"Look, I really don't want to come home right now."_

"Okay, I know Tou-san was being unfair, but-"

_"Unfair? I didn't think you'd go that easy on him."_

"Alright, he was acting like a cold-hearted jerk, and I'm not too happy with the stuff he said, either."

_"You still talking to him?"_

"Kōji." Kōichi's tone became very serious, even more so than before. "I never got to see him for most of my life. Just because I'm mad at him right now doesn't mean I'm not going to try and fix things. Anyway, you have to understand, you really scared us when you ran off like that. I called the rest of the gang, and they're worried, too. Oh, and Izumi says she's going to pound your head in for it."

_"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. But I just can't face him again, not until he takes back everything he said. Tell him that."_

"But-" _Click_. Kōji had hung up.

"Good work, kid," one cop congratulated Kōichi, "Now we'll just send a squad car to pick him up, and this'll be over."

"I seriously doubt it. If Kōji doesn't want to come back yet, then he'll make sure of it. And sending cops to the Himi place will only make things worse. Kōji just needs space."

"You haven't even known him for a day, Kōichi," Kōsei interrupted, "How could you possibly know what he needs?"

"I'd say I know him way better than you do. He spends all of his free time alone in his room, but he's already told me probably everything about himself, and definitely more than you know."

"I doubt that."

"You'd be surprised. If you look hard enough, I bet you'll barely recognise Kōji next time you see him."

* * *

I sat on the couch in Tomoki's living room, watching him play a video game. His brother Yutaka was next to me, constantly switching his gaze between me and his sports magazine. It was a little unnerving. Of course, not as unnerving as when their parents had come home at around midnight to find me trying to get to sleep on the couch. The mother had screamed, and her husband had nearly whacked me over the head with his briefcase. Luckily, Tomoki and Yutaka had run down just in time to explain everything. Granted, the grownups were still a little nervous around me. Apparently, they weren't used to housing runaways.

"Yes!" Tomoki had just blown up a big purple sledgehammer-wielding space monkey.

A knock on the door. Tomoki’s mother was the one who answered it, and then she called for me. I slowly got up and made my way over, intentionally dragging my feet on the floor to slow myself down a bit more.

It was Kōichi. He practically strangled me in a hug. "Come on," he murmured, "Kaa-san and Satomi-san have been worried sick."

I pulled away. "I already told you, I'm not going home."

"Listen, the police were _this_ close to sending a whole team to come get you. And they'll still do that if you don't come right now."

"I don't know.

"You don't have to deal with Tou-san if you don't want to, but you do need to come back. Please."

I didn't know what to do. How could I go back to Tou-san after he lied to me about having a brother and kept me in the dark about Kaa-san, and then forbade me from seeing either of them once I knew the truth? On the other hand, if I stayed here, cops would swarm all over the house. I had a feeling Tomoki's family wouldn't be all too happy about that. In the end, I made my choice. "Fine. But I'm not talking to Tou-san."

"You're going home?" I nearly jumped. I hadn't realised Tomoki was right behind me. He gave me a small smile. "Well, see you. I hope everything works out."

I gave him a smile of my own. "Thanks for letting me stay over, Tomoki. Later."

"'Bye."

* * *

Back at home, I was up in my room, lying on the bed, tossing a ball of wadded-up paper in the air and catching it over and over again. Satomi-san and Kaa-san had greeted me with open arms, and it turned out they'd become best friends while waiting for me. Mostly they bonded over their worry for me, and the fact that neither of them liked what Tou-san had done. Izumi, Takuya, and Junpei had all called in the past hour, asking if I was okay. Izumi started going on and on about how I'd scared everyone by running away. After a while, I figured she wasn't going to stop her ranting anytime soon, so I hung up. She'd probably call back any minute, once she realised I wasn't there anymore.

A knock on the door. Without waiting for a reply, Tou-san came in and sat down by the bed. The two of us were quiet for a long time.

"What do you want?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I want to apologise," he stated.

"Go ahead, then."

"I'm sorry I didn't want you hanging out with Kōichi. It's just that… your mother and I still don't get along very well, and I didn't want you near a kid she raised."

"Even though he's my own brother?" I snapped.

"Yes. Believe me, though, I had my reasons, and-"

"You're not apologising."

"What?"

"You're just making excuses for yourself. Some people might say it means you're not really sorry at all."

He sighed. "I _am_ sorry. I was just worried, that's all."

"Worried?"

"Well, your mother practically hated me the last time we really spoke, and I was afraid that if you spent time with her, then…"

"I'd hate you too?" For the first time, I actually rolled over to face my father. "That'll never happen. Even when I was mad, I've never actually hated you. Okay?" He smiled, and for some reason, I smiled back. "And… I'm sorry I ran off. I was sure I'd kicked that habit."

"You've done this before?"

"Uh… It's a long story. So am I still grounded?"

"For running off, yes. For bringing our family back together, are you kidding?"

My cell rang, and I picked up, immediately regretting it.

 _"K_ ōj _i, why did you hang up on me? I told you guys never to do that again! Ugh, why do you never let me finish-" Click._

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, how was that? When Kōichi was talking to Kōsei, I was trying to point out that since Kōichi spent weeks in the Digital World with Kōji, he has actually gotten to know him better than their Dad has, especially since Kōji is a bit of a different person now, and Kōsei hasn't really noticed it yet.


End file.
